Year-End Lists

NME: Best Albums of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
2. The English Riviera
   Metronomy
3. Skying
   The Horrors
4. Smother
   Wild Beasts
5. Smoke Ring for My Halo
   Kurt Vile
6. Suck It and See
   Arctic Monkeys
7. Strange Mercy
   St. Vincent
8. On A Mission
   Katy B
9. Whokill
   Tune-Yards
10. Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
    WU LYF
11. Anna Calvi
    Anna Calvi
12. Again Into Eyes
    Scum
13. Zeroes QC
    Suuns
14. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?
    The Vaccines
15. Wild Flag
    Wild Flag
16. A Different Kind of Fix
    Bombay Bicycle Club
17. Gloss Drop
    Battles
18. Cat’s Eyes
    Cat’s Eyes
19. A Creature I Don’t Know
    Laura Marling
20. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
21. Velociraptor!
    Kasabian
22. Last Night on Earth
    Noah & The Whale
23. Yuck
    Yuck
24. Big Talk
    Big Talk
25. W
    PLANNINGTOROCK
26. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
    Girls
27. Arabia Mountain
    Black Lips
28. Looping State of Mind
    The Field
29. Dye It Blonde
    Smith Westerns
30. Pala
    Friendly Fires
31. Ceremonials
    Florence + The Machine
32. Submarine OST
    Alex Turner
33. Audio,Video,Disco
    Justice
34. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
35. Nine Types of Light
    TV on the Radio
36. New Brigade
    Iceage
37. D
    White Denim
38. Biophilia
    Björk
39. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
    Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
40. Cherish the Light Years
    Cold Cave
41. Exmilitary
    Death Grips
42. Lupercalia
    Patrick Wolf
43. Wasting Light
    Foo Fighters
44. Kaputt
    Destroyer
45. Feel It Break
    Austra
46. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
47. Days
    Real Estate
48. Paradise
    Slow Club
49. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
50. Watch the Throne
    Jay-Z and Kanye West

The Atlantic’s literary editor, Benjamin Schwarz, chooses the best five books of 2011:

[see also 2012]

1. The Hare with Amber Eyes

   A Family’s Century of Art and Loss
   Edmund de Waal
2. Letters to Monica
   Philip Larkin, edited by Anthony Thwaite
3. The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan
   Richard Nickel and Aaron Suskind, with John Vinci and Ward Miller
4. Saints and Sinners

   Stories
   Edna O’Brien
5. Emily, Alone
   Stewart O’Nan

David Denby: Best Films of 2011, as published by The New Yorker

[see also 2014 • 2012]

1. Hugo
   Martin Scorsese
2. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
3. Margin Call
   J.C. Chandor
4. Certified Copy
   Abbas Kiarostami
5. A Separation
   Asghar Farhadi
6. Contagion
   Steven Soderbergh
7. The Descendants
   Alexander Payne
8. J. Edgar
   Clint Eastwood
9. Source Code
   Duncan Jones
10. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
    Rupert Wyatt

The A.V. Club: Best Music of 2011 [ballots]

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

1. Civilian
   Wye Oak
2. David Comes to Life
   Fucked Up
3. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
4. C’mon
   Low
5. The Whole Love
   Wilco
6. House of Balloons
   The Weeknd
7. Days
   Real Estate
8. Strange Mercy
   St. Vincent
9. Watch the Throne
   Jay-Z and Kanye West
10. The King is Dead
    The Decemberists
11. Nine Types of Light
    TV on the Radio
12. Bad as Me
    Tom Waits
13. Take Care
    Drake
14. So Beautiful or So What
    Paul Simon
15. Nostalgia, Ultra
    Frank Ocean
15. Yuck
    Yuck
17. Wild Flag
    Wild Flag
17. Kaputt
    Destroyer
19. Cloud Nothings
    Cloud Nothings
20. 12 Desperate Straight Lines
    Telekinesis
21. New Brigade
    Iceage
22. The Greatest Story Never Told
    Saigon
23. Femme Fatale
    Britney Spears
24. Within and Without
    Washed Out
25. Ceremonials
    Florence + The Machine

Nitsuh Abebe: Top 10 Albums of 2011, as published by New York Magazine, but “in no great order“

1. Feel It Break
   Austra
2. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
   Colin Stetson
3. Black Up
   Shabazz Palaces
4. Kaputt
   Destroyer
5. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
6. New Brigade
   Iceage
7. Whokill
   Tune-Yards
8. Section.80
   Kendrick Lamar
9. Eye Contact
   Gang Gang Dance
10. Space is Only Noise
    Nicolas Jaar

Raven Sings the Blues: Top 20 of 2011 [“in no particular order whatsoever”]

• Veronica Falls
  Veronica Falls
• Mikal Cronin
  Mikal Cronin
• Nocturnal Missions
  The Barreracudas
• Cheap Perfume
  Bare Wires
• Sun and Shade
  Woods
• 936
  Peaking Lights
• Napa Asylum
  Sic Alps
• West
  Wooden Shjips
• Mazes
  Moon Duo
• Glazin’
  Jacuzzi Boys
• Alien Observer/Dream Loss
  Grouper
• An Empty Bliss Beyond This World
  The Caretaker
• Solitary Pursuits
  ADR
• Goodbye Bread
  Ty Segall
• Briarwood
  Wooden Wand
• A Thousand Heys
  Mazes
• Peer Amid
  The Skull Defekts
• No Future
  Wax Idols
• Smoke Ring for My Halo
  Kurt Vile
• Days
  Real Estate

NPR Music: 50 Favorite Albums of 2011, alphabetical

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012]

• 21
  Adele
• Scarlatti: Sonatas
  Alexandre Tharaud
• Burst Apart
  The Antlers
• Where Country Grows
  Ashton Shepherd
• Chamber Music
  Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal
• The Rip Tide
  Beirut
• 4
  Beyoncé
• Agadez
  Bombino
• Bon Iver
  Bon Iver
• Cast Recording
  The Book Of Mormon
• The People’s Key
  Bright Eyes
• Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass
  Brooklyn Rider
• Captain Black Big Band
  Captain Black Big Band
• Barton Hollow
  The Civil Wars
• New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
  Colin Stetson
• Dwellings
  Cormorant
• Tan Bajo
  Davila 666
• Tryptych
  Demdike Stare
• Gra Agus Bas
  Donnacha Dennehy
• Fiction
  Ebene Quartet
• Chief
  Eric Church
• Nostalgia, Ultra
  Frank Ocean
• David Comes to Life
  Fucked Up
• Exits And All The Rest
  Girl In A Coma
• The Wanting
  Glenn Jones
• The Lost And Found
  Gretchen Parlato
• James Blake
  James Blake
• The Maltese Tenor (Decca)
  Joseph Calleja
• The Magic Place
  Julianna Barwick
• Ashore
  June Tabor
• Watch the Throne
  Jay-Z and Kanye West
• Section.80
  Kendrick Lamar
• Diamond Mine
  King Creosote & Jon Hopkins
• Nuestra
  La Vida Boheme
• Mahler: Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”
  London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Chancletas Y Camiseta Bordada
  Los Rakas
• Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook
  Miguel Zenón
• Let England Shake
  PJ Harvey
• The King of Limbs
  Radiohead
• Undun
  The Roots
• Black Up
  Shabazz Palaces
• Road Shows, Vol. 2
  Sonny Rollins
• Strange Mercy
  St. Vincent
• The Illustrious
  STS
• Ravedeath, 1972
  Tim Hecker
• Bad as Me
  Tom Waits
• Lifeboats & Follies
  Tommy Guerrero
• Whokill
  Tune-Yards
• The Whole Love
  Wilco
• Civilian
  Wye Oak

Library Journal: Ten Best Books of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2012]

1. Alexander McQueen

   Savage Beauty
   Andrew Bolton & others (text), Sølve Sundsbø (photographs)
2. Midnight Rising

   John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War
   Tony Horwitz
3. Silver Sparrow
   Tayari Jones
4. 1Q84
   Haruki Murakami
5. The Tiger’s Wife
   Téa Obreht
6. The Buddha in the Attic
   Julie Otsuka
7. The Tragedy of Arthur
   Arthur Phillips
8. The Better Angels of Our Nature

   Why Violence Has Declined
   Steven Pinker
9. Tides of War
   Stella Tillyard
10. The Empty Family

    Stories
    Colm Tóibín

Stereogum: Top 50 Albums of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Father, Son, Holy Ghost
   Girls
2. Take Care
   Drake
3. Bon Iver
   Bon Iver
4. David Comes to Life
   Fucked Up
5. House of Balloons
   The Weeknd
6. Eye Contact
   Gang Gang Dance
7. Past Life Martyred Saints
   EMA
8. Let England Shake
   PJ Harvey
9. LIVE.LOVE.A$AP
   A$AP Rocky
10. Watch the Throne
    Jay-Z and Kanye West
11. 50 Words for Snow
    Kate Bush
12. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
    M83
13. Yuck
    Yuck
14. Feel It Break
    Austra
15. Conatus
    Zola Jesus
16. Era Extraña
    Neon Indian
17. Replica
    Oneohtrix Point Never
18. 4
    Beyoncé
19. New Brigade
    Iceage
20. Days
    Real Estate
21. Instrumental Mixtape
    Clams Casino
22. Ashes & Fire
    Ryan Adams
23. Wild Flag
    Wild Flag
24. Nostalgia, Ultra
    Frank Ocean
25. Cherish the Light Years
    Cold Cave
26. Belong
    Pains of Being Pure at Heart
27. Kaputt
    Destroyer
28. Thee Physical
    Pictureplane
29. Within and Without
    Washed Out
30. The King of Limbs
    Radiohead
31. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
32. Strange Mercy
    St. Vincent
33. SBTRKT
    SBTRKT
34. Smoke Ring for My Halo
    Kurt Vile
35. Parallax
    Atlas Sound
36. Zonoscope
    Cut Copy
37. Dye It Blonde
    Smith Westerns
38. Burst Apart
    The Antlers
39. Space is Only Noise
    Nicolas Jaar
40. Section.80
    Kendrick Lamar
41. Relax
    Das Racist
42. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
    Unknown Mortal Orchestra
43. In Heaven
    Mr Twin Sister
44. James Blake
    James Blake
45. 21
    Adele
46. Whokill
    Tune-Yards
47. The Whole Love
    Wilco
48. Rock Creek Park
    Oddisee
49. Underneath the Pine
    Toro y Moi
50. The Year of Hibernation
    Youth Lagoon

Cahiers du Cinéma: Top Ten Films of 2011

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. We Have a Pope
   Nanni Moretti
2. The Strange Case of Angelica
   Manoel de Oliveira
2. The Tree of Life
   Terrence Malick
4. Outside Satan
   Bruno Dumont
4. Essential Killing
   Jerzy Skolimowski
6. Melancholia
   Lars von Trier
6. A Burning Hot Summer
   Philippe Garrel
8. Super 8
   JJ Abrams
8. House of Pleasures
   Bertrand Bonello
8. Meek’s Cutoff
   Kelly Reichardt